By Bhupen Goswami

Guwahati : Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, who has emerged as the hero after Citizenship (Amendment) Bill lapsed in Rajya Sabha arrived in Guwahati along with the leaders of Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), Atul Bora and Keshab Mahanta.Landing at the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International (LGBI) Airport on Thursday after, Sangma received a rousing welcome by more than 500 members of AGP and National People’s Party (NPP). The NPP leader was welcomed by his party members with the beats of drum and dances. Meanwhile, speaking to media, after arrival, Sangma termed the development as the victory of the people of northeast and said, “Sentiments of people and the voice of the people of the northeast have been heard.” Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma has said that the issue of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was a “sentimental” one for the people of the Northeast. He added that once he came to know that the voices against the Bill belonging to the different student bodies, civil societies as well as religious organizations could be unified, Delhi would be compelled to listen to the issue. “We decided to ask all the political parties to come in and we decided to unanimously oppose the Bill at a meeting on January 29”, stated the Meghalaya CM. Sangma stated that the parties came together once they heard the voices of the people rising in unity. “Overall, seeing the situation and the sentiments of the people, the Government decided not to place the Bill”, he added. He also hailed the coming together of the people as one. Firstly, Sangma said that the aggressive political lobbying in Delhi resulted in the demise of the Bill. Secondly, he said Home Minister Rajnath Singh was concerned about the protests and due to the sensitive nature of the issue, decided to drop the Bill. He further added that since both the Home Ministry and BJP President Amit Shah were sympathetic to the concerns of the people, he was optimistic about the outcome. “The voice of the people has prevailed and there were many factors that led to it (the ‘death’ of the Bill)”, he added.